Fewer Cheers: Firms Are More Careful about Alcohol at Office Parties

Article excerpt

'Tis the season when employees can get tipsy as the
spiked-punch bowl replaces the water cooler at some holiday office
parties.

But efforts here and nationwide seek to make employers who do
serve liquor more responsible hosts, particularly this time of year
as alcohol-related traffic accidents reach their annual highs. On
New Year's Day, for example, 2,000 people nationwide will be
hospitalized with injuries from alcohol-related traffic accidents.

"New Year's Eve is amateur night, because a lot of people drink
who don't usually drink," said Victor Colman, an attorney with The
Responsible Hospitality Institute, a nonprofit group based in
Massachusetts.

"Clearly, the holiday season is a risky time, but it doesn't
mean you shut down and prohibit all drinking," said Colman. "We
believe there is a middle ground."

Colman said that some employers' palms sweat over liability for
intoxicated employees, not just at office parties in December but
year-round at special events, meetings and conventions.

"But employers are being more careful about unmitigated
provision of alcohol," he said. "More and more are waking up to the
fact that there are risks attached to that."

In this area, some companies avoid the problem by banning booze
at holiday parties. Among them is McDonnell Douglas Corp. The
company, headquartered in north St. Louis County, prohibits
alcohol on the workplace campus any time.

At the Creve Coeur campus of Monsanto Co., alcohol gets served
only rarely. For holiday parties held in the office, the corporate
policy mandates soft drinks and iced tea.

At Anheuser-Busch Cos. Inc., employees toast the holidays with
beer at parties held outside the workplace. "We feel our beers
belong at Christmas parties for those adults who want them - not as
the center of attention, but as a traditional complement to
celebration," said Joseph P. Castellano, vice president of consumer
awareness and education.

Campaigns for a drug-free workplace, increased media attention
to drunk driving and the popularity of sobriety also help curb
consumption of booze at office holiday parties and throughout the
year.

"These factors together say it is unfair to spend company money
on liquor when so many people don't drink," said James M. …